LM16-011 - EUROPEAN ICE AGE FOSSIL GRAY WOLF CANIS LUPUS JAW WITH TEETH

Product Description

ITEM # 

LM16-011

ID

Canis lupus

FOUND

Maas River - Holland

AGE

PLEISTOCENE:  20,000 - 10,000 million years

SIZE

5.25" long

CONDITION

NO REPAIR OR RESTORATION

NOTE

SCARCE EUROPEAN WOLF FOSSIL!

INCLUDES DISPLAY BOX - Actual Item - One Only

Comes with a certificate of authenticity / information sheet

Protected deep within the Late Pleistocene gravel bars of the Maas River, this is a partial lower jaw of  Canis lupus (Gray wolf) with beautifully preserved carnassial teeth.  In most cases, river gravel deposits of usually only yield small jaw fragments.  Part of the jaw bone is missing on the extreme ends but all the teeth are original and not composited.  Unlike the much more common specimens entirely of black or dark brown hue with river erosion, this specimen offers a beautiful light brown color with an attractive multi-colored brown and cream enamel teeth.   Guaranteed NO DYES, NO REPAIR and NO RESTORATION.   An excellent reference or display specimen from Europe's final Ice Age and the days of Cro-Magnon Man.  

Unlike the Dire wolf (Canis dirus), the Gray wolf (Canis lupus) successfully managed to survive the last Ice Age and is still with us today in parts of the world.  The Gray wolves and coyotes of the last Ice Age were probably very similar in look and behavior to their modern relatives.  First emerging in Eurasia about 1 million years ago, Canis lupus thrived to become one of the most widely distributed mammals by the end of the Pleistocene.  This wolf is a highly mobile predator with a complex social structure and learned to adapt to a wide variety of environments including evergreen forests, frozen tundra and arid deserts.  It preys primarily upon large ungulates (deer, elk, moose), but will kill much smaller game if opportunity presents itself, as well as scavenge a carcass if need be.

Wolves have incredibly strong jaws, thought to be capable of exerting as much as 1,500 lb of pressure  per square inch.  In Canis lupus, the canine teeth can reach 2 inches in length from root end to tip.  The large, specialized premolars are known as the carnassials and are one of the key physical features of the order Carnivora.  These specialized teeth are designed solely for the purpose of shearing and slicing flesh.  Beyond the carnassial, we come to the last teeth in the series, the molars.  In the family Canidae, large molars have been retained, making thorough crushing of food possible before swallowing.  This ability in feeding habit allows for a much more versatile diet than many other families of carnivores.  The canid's possession of molars allows for a wide variety of both animal and plant material to be ground up and easily digested.